1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of financial transaction instruments, and more particularly to the use of consumer profiling in providing consumers with recommended or custom cards which afford benefits unique to the psychographic characteristics of the consumer.
2. Related Art
Consumers very often use financial transaction instruments as convenient forms of payment for purchases of goods and/or services (“goods/services”). A “financial transaction instrument,” also referred to herein as a “card,” may be any of the following: a traditional “plastic” transaction card (e.g., a credit card, a charge card, a debit card, a gift card, a pre-paid or stored-value card, or the like); a titanium-containing, or other metal-containing, transaction card; a clear or translucent transaction card; a foldable or otherwise unconventionally-sized transaction card; a radio-frequency-enabled transaction card; or any other type of card used in connection with a financial transaction.
A financial transaction instrument may be configured with electronic functionality. For example, such an instrument can have electronic circuitry that is printed or otherwise incorporated onto or within it (commonly being referred to as a “smart card”), or may be a fob-type device having a transponder and a radio-frequency identification (“RFID”) reader. Additionally, a financial transaction instrument may be magnetically encoded with information, such as through use of a magnetic stripe, for example. Optionally, a financial transaction instrument may include a visible card identification number (“CID”) uniquely identifying a corresponding transaction account, in case the transaction instrument cannot easily be read electronically or magnetically.
A “transaction account,” as used herein, refers to an account associated with an open-account system or a closed-account system, which are discussed in more detail below. A transaction account may exist in a physical or a non-physical embodiment. For example, a transaction account may be distributed in a non-physical embodiment such as an account number, a frequent-flyer account, a telephone calling account, or the like. Furthermore, a physical embodiment of a transaction account may be distributed as a financial transaction instrument.
“Open cards” are financial transaction instruments associated with an open-account system and generally are accepted by different merchants. Examples of open cards include the American Express®, Visa®, MasterCard®, and Discover® cards, which may be used at many different retailers and other businesses. In contrast, “closed cards” are financial transaction instruments associated with a closed-account system and may be restricted to use in a particular store, a particular chain of stores, or a collection of affiliated stores. One example of a closed card is a pre-paid gift card for The Gap®, which typically is purchased at and may only be accepted at The Gap® stores. Note, however, that pre-paid gift cards, also known as stored-value cards, are not limited to closed cards but instead may be open cards issued by, for example, American Express®, Visa®, Discover®, MasterCard®, or the like.
Generally, a merchant that wants to provide customers with the option to pay for goods/services with a particular type of open card will enter into an agreement with the issuer of that type of card (e.g., American Express®, Visa®, Discover®, MasterCard®, or the like). The issuer typically is a financial organization (e.g., American Express®, JPMorgan Chase, MBNA®, Citibank®, or the like) whose card-issuing activities are government regulated.
Because of the wide use of cards by consumers, the types and number of merchants that accept cards has grown and now include, in addition to the more traditional merchants such as stores and restaurants, taxi drivers, doctors, schools, street vendors, on-line vendors, and government agencies, to name a few. Through the use of cards, merchants are able to obtain prompt payment for the purchased goods/services.
Issuers have a financial incentive to contract with as many merchants as possible to accept their cards. Typically, an issuer is paid a so-called “discount rate” by each merchant signed up to accept payment using the issuer's type of card. The discount rate may be, for example, a flat rate paid periodically or a rate based on the merchant's net sales that are paid for using the issuer's type of card.
In order to convince merchants to accept its card, an issuer may provide the merchants with assistance with the set-up process, at no cost to the merchants. The set-up process may include: providing the merchants with point-of-sale (“POS”) devices, including hardware and software for reading cards; providing training to employees of the merchants as to how to use the POS devices; providing communication equipment and establishing communication procedures for obtaining quick payment authorizations; and troubleshooting services.
Card issuers typically have a number of different types of financial transaction instruments, e.g. credit cards, available to consumers, containing a wide variety of options for consumers to choose from. While providing a wide variety of options to consumers of course has several advantages, it can nevertheless be difficult or tedious, or even overwhelming, for consumers to sift through a broad array of often complex options in order to find a card that best suits them. Further, consumers may be unsatisfied with their card in that they may not receive benefits from the card that derive from their personal traits (e.g., interests, habits, tastes, and preferences). Accordingly, there is a need for an improved customer profiling process that can make it simpler for consumers to select the card most suited to their personal preferences and relevant traits. Furthermore, there is a need for a psychographic profiling process which can provide consumers with a recommended card, or which can also afford consumers the opportunity to build a custom card, having benefits which are related to the personal interests, habits, tastes, and preferences of the consumer.